Remarkable collection of 72 drawings of the scenes on Trajan's Column in Rome. They were made by at least two different Italian artists from slightly different periods, but in a cohesive style. The drawings have been mounted into an album bearing the coat of arms of King Philip V of Spain (1683-1746). Trajan's Column proved to be endlessly inspiring in the time period the present drawings were made, as similar collections of studies are known from artists such as Amico Aspertini (1474-1552), Giovanni Battista Cipriani (1727-1785), and Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665).
The drawings show a selection of scenes from both the first and second Dacian Wars, as depicted on the friezes of the Trajan Column. They are made on different types of paper, which are easily distinguished by their colour. The later drawings on the light cream coloured paper depict the very first scenes, found at the base of the column. They have been mounted in the album in the right order. The earlier drawings on the darker paper depict the later scenes, including the battles. They appear to have been mounted at least partly in reverse order, as the first few drawings in the album show the victory scenes at the end of the first Dacian War. The cohesive style of the different sets of drawings strongly suggests that the artists used the same model. This was most likely Alfonso Chacón's Historia utriusque belli Dacici a Traiano Caesare gesti (1576), with engravings by Francesco Villamena (ca. 1565-1624), or one of the 17th-century editions with engravings by Giovanni Pietro Bellori (1613-1696) and Pietro Santi Bartoli (1635-1700).
The drawings, especially the later ones, fit together perfectly side by side, suggesting they were made on a very long strip of paper and cut into smaller pieces at a later date. They may even have formed a scroll or rotulus, which was not uncommon for studies of Trajan's Column. The condition of especially the earlier drawings implies that the collection was handled often in the past, and possibly served as a reference for either scholars or artists.
The binding shows clear signs of wear (the boards are scuffed and rubbed, the leather around the edges and joints is shaved), the work has been re-backed with the original back strip laid down, the album contains 19th-century leaves on which the illustrations are mounted. The marbled endpapers are slightly faded and browned along the edges, the illustrations are somewhat browned but still clearly visible, they are all creased/ folded in the middle, the earlier drawings with losses and extensive repairs, some laid onto support, heavy toning and surface dirt throughout, some slight offsetting on the blank versos of the album leaves, lacking the illustration which was mounted on leaf [73] (?). Cf. Heenes, Volker, "On sixteenth-century copies of the reliefs from the Column of Trajan - Two new drawings from an unknown rotulus", in: RIHA Journal (0094), July 2014.